It isn’t surprising to learn that the IRS is continuing to target conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, but it’s nice to know that a federal court isn’t letting the tax agency off the hook for its political bias.

As PJ Media reports, a three-judge panel has ruled in no uncertain terms that “it is absurd to suggest that the effect of the IRS’s unlawful conduct … has been eradicated.”  And in an effort to expose the IRS’s “discriminatory” policies, the judges reopened two lawsuits against the IRS that were previously thrown out by a lower court.

The plaintiffs in those cases, the conservative organizations Linchpins of Liberty and True the Vote, were unduly targeted by the tax agency because of their conservative politics. And it’s not just those two organizations that have had problems. The court’s decision was solidified after learning of other conservative groups who are still waiting for the IRS to accept their tax-exempt applications.

Until this ruling, the IRS had successfully defended itself by assuring it had taken steps to eradicate the practice of targeting conservative and Tea Party non-profits. But the report makes clear they’re up to the same old shenanigans of prying into the private lives of applicants and flagging conservative/tea party labels.

“This is a blistering rebuke to the IRS and its defenders,” said Cato Institute senior fellow Walter Olson.”It takes on squarely the defense the IRS had raised in this case which is, ‘Whatever happened, we promise not to do it again.’ The court goes through and systematically takes that apart in a way that’s very damaging to the IRS’s overall defense.”

It’s about time the federal government takes these allegations seriously. They better look high on the totem pole, too, and find out where the directive to target these groups is coming from. Thankfully, this court, considered as the second highest court in the land, is doing what’s necessary to root out those infringing on our freedoms.

About The Author

Mark was a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, and served as the national coordinator. He left the organization to work more broadly on expanding the self-governance movement beyond the partisan divide. Mark appears regularly on television in outlets as diverse as MSNBC, ABC, NBC, Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg, Fox Business and the BBC. He’s highly sought after for the tea party perspective from print and electronic media outlets, from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, L.A. Times, Washington Examiner, Politico and the The Hill. Mark blogs at MarkMeckler.com, and his opinion editorials regularly run in many of the leading political newspapers both on and offline. Mark has a BA in English from San Diego State University and graduated with honors from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1988. He practiced real estate and business law for almost a decade. For the last eleven years of his legal career he specialized in Internet advertising law. When not fighting for the future of our nation, Mark is an avid horseman, and lives in rural northern California with his wife Patty and two children.

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